vegan ice-cream

Never one to let the seasons get between me and my ice-cream, this Wonderfully Decadent Vegan Gingerbread Ice-cream is a deliciously creamy combination of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and maple. This treat is a taste of Autumn in a cone.

Last weekend we celebrated the Elf’s third birthday with a party set in a log cabin in the woods near our home. Ten small people, at first shy, ran wild, their faces painted with unicorns and flowers while the big people kept watch. It was such a beautiful few hours watching our little girl with her friends and I remember having a moment when I thought, “I can’t believe she is three already” but in the next breath a feeling that she had always been with us. Sigh. So blessed are we.

Yup, you read that right. I have been playing around with different vegan ice-cream recipes and have narrowed my favourite down to two. Mind you, I haven’t tried a cashew based one yet! For this batch, I used coconut sugar to sweeten and it gave the finished product a rich, toffee flavour. Much of the base of this recipe is based on a recipe contributed by Megan Gordon on www.kitchn.com.

Vegan Pecan and Date Brown Sugar Ice-cream

2 x 400 ml can full-fat coconut milk (shake and separate 1/2 can in to a separate bowl)

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 tbs cornflour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup chopped pecans

4 medjool dates, pitted

water

Freeze ice cream bowl from your ice-cream machine at least 24 hours before making the base.

Pour 1 1/2 cans coconut milk, sugar and salt into a saucepan on low heat. Stir to combine until the sugar has dissolved. In a bowl add cornflour to the withheld coconut milk (1/2 can) and whisk until the cornflour is completely combined. Add cornflour mix to the saucepan and heat while stirring until the ice-cream base is thickening. It should coat the back of a spoon (5 – 8 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Pour the ice-cream base in to a bowl or container and allow to cool before chilling in the fridge (covered with cling wrap pressed to the surface) for about 3-4 hours. The base is ready for churning when it is thick like a pudding. Churn in your ice-cream maker as per your machine’s instructions.

In a blender or processor add pitted dates and enough water (I begin with 2 tbs) to blitz in to a caramel. The consistency needs to be thin enough to fold in to the ice-cream.

When you are happy with the consistency of your churned ice-cream, spoon in to a large bowl and fold through the chopped pecans and the date caramel. Spoon ice-cream into a freezer safe container and freeze, covered. Or eat straight away like we did. Enjoy!

PS. I also made a peanut butter chocolate ice-cream using a different base. Recipe to come.